c. 1680-1700 German Amatory Token

A c. 1680-1700 German love token, delicately made in polychrome enameled gold and replete with various amatory symbols: a pink heart is inlaid with the number ‘3’ and pierced with cupid’s arrows, which supports a small emerald framed by palm branches and forget-me-not blossoms, all resting below a crown, with the reverse side further painted with conjoined circles. The ‘swirl and dot’ enameling style, along with the ‘piecrust’ rub over bezel and engraved back, are characteristic of late 17th c workmanship. The combination of motifs is shared by two c.1700 amatory pendants in the Victoria & Albert Museum (451-1873 and 9081-1863), as well as two late 17th c love tokens illustrated in Joyaux Renaissance by J. Kugel. V&A 451-1873 and the present pendant feature palm branches, a Biblical symbol of joy, triumph, and eternity. Both V&A pendants share forget-me-not blossoms, which since the late Renaissance has been a common sentimental motif for remembrance and devotion. The conjoined circles enameled to the back of the present token is also the form of Kugel cat. 98; it symbolizes the eternal merging of two souls, and is further related to the ∞ infinity symbol, which since the 17th century has represented the concept of eternity (including mathematical infinity, as used by John Wallis in 1655). All of the pieces aforementioned are linked together by their German origin and the ‘3’ motif. According to Diana Scarisbrick (p. 88, Rings: Jewelry of Power, Love, and Loyalty), the number three was pronounced in Saxon like treu, the word for ‘faithful/true’, thus serving as a homonym and rebus for this ideal. When paired with a heart and forget-me-not blossoms, it forms the message, “Mein Herz ist Dir treu [i.e. ‘drei’/3], Vergißmeinicht (my heart is true to you, forget me not)” (Koch collection cat. 863, Anna Beatriz Chadour). The V&A believes these tokens or badges were once German court decorations (see V&A curator notes). The German association is further supported by a pendant of the same type in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (3204), which, like most of the pieces discussed, features both the heart and crown motifs (representing fidelity and the reign of love), and is described by the museum as a marriage token.
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